Looking towards the skies, for our redemption draws nigh!

Predestination or Free will? Do you understand them?

I can try to answer this email as best I understand and as God helps me:

God does knows the end as well as the beginning, future from past – he’s a “time traveller” you know…

He knows who will choose His ways and who will choose the new worldly order’s ways…

I apologize if I don’t see a contradiction…but, free will, it seems, is tied in to ‘predestination’ from a timelessness perspective – the future is not fully written until free will determines the course.

Example would be Jonah sent to Ninevah ( a city that was founded by Nimrod, founder of Babylon – interestingly) to tell them they would be destroyed b/c of their evil.

He didn’t want to, left the opposite direction, fell into a storm, was cast overboard ‘to save the ship and satisfy the gods’ – finally admitting to the captain and crew that he was running, and was swallowed by a big fish.
It took him to do the job he ran from….(just this is a parable for me)…

He finally was barfed out on the beach – (try swimming with something alive in your belly and see how you feel after 3 days 😀 )
Then, the Lord tells Jonah again to go to Nineveh and preach repentance or else!
Imagine being Jonah, walking into a city of your enemies and preaching a message that is bound to be unpopular.
It would be terrifying! But, Jonah this time does as he’s told and amazingly the people repent. The king orders all to fast, put on sackcloth and beg for forgiveness. (Jonah 2:1-10)

He told them, but they repented. God spared them, even though it was ‘predestined’ through prophecy.
Jonah was pissed. After all that he went though (because he didn’t obey to begin with), he didn’t care if they were saved, he wanted to watch the firework show. He didn’t have forgiveness/love for his fellow man…

Even then, their free will changed that particular line of foretold future events.

God, from his perspective, would be like:
if you could see everything laid out in front of you from beginning to end (think video editing timeline) – you could see who chooses heaven and hell. :think:

So we have free will,yes; a gift, but God wants us to choose goodness, love for each other, etc. – in essence, God – YVWH, Himself. He diesires to have ONLY good things for us not evil too – Good/Evil = a dichotomy or division = more easily conquered. One could not be conquered if one only knew good. (See Genesis)

Why should we even to desire this world and its things if we are called to be with HIm, yet some do…still puzzles me – even my choices sometimes.

God doesn’t send people to heaven or hell – their choices (free will) do… based on His rules and regulations/laws given for our benefit, not our harm.

Hopes this helps and sorry so long – some may read and not understand either…